


recurrence

by chanson



Category: HOTSHOT (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Gen, M/M, auror!sungwoon, intentional vagueness, magizoologist!daniel, this is pretty pointless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 03:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16824106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanson/pseuds/chanson
Summary: In his three years working as an Auror, Sungwoon has yet to meet anyone more frustrating or more brilliant than Kang Daniel.





	recurrence

**Author's Note:**

> alternatively titled: niel scamander.
> 
> i won’t even pretend this isn’t entirely self-indulgent and it probably has very limited appeal to anyone that isn’t me. hastily written and minimally edited so read at your own peril. 
> 
> inspired by jk rowling's _fantastic beasts and where to find them_. general familiarity with the films and the harry potter universe would be helpful, if not necessary, to understand this.

The call comes in just after dawn.

Sungwoon is covering Minhyun’s shift this week so that his fellow Auror can show his sister around Seoul, and that’s the only reason he’s even in the office at this ungodly hour to respond to it.

He’s supposed to investigate a break-in that happened a little over an hour ago in the wizarding village of Namju. Witnesses claimed that in the middle of the night there was a loud crash, followed by piercing, animalistic screams that seemed to be coming from the hanok of a family that was currently vacationing in Europe. Thankfully, the villagers had been smart enough to alert the Ministry rather than doing any investigating of their own.

Sungwoon casts a nonverbal _lumos_ spell and silently slips into the hanok with his wand raised. What he sees inside makes him gasp.

The roof has caved in and the inside of the home could be accurately described as "clawed to shreds," but the most shocking part is the large white vulpine creature that lies in the corner.

He’s never seen a kumiho before, but he’s read enough firsthand accounts on them to recognize one on sight and her form unmistakable. Her red eyes land upon Sungwoon, who suddenly feels very small and vulnerable, but the only movement she makes is to flick her many white tails. Her massive, hulking form is curled protectively in on herself. The blood streaked across the floor and mottled in her white fur makes Sungwoon’s stomach twist.

By all appearances, it’s just Sungwoon and the beast in here, but his senses are sharp enough to know they’re not alone.

(As cheesy as it sounds to say that he recognizes him by his breathing, that’s exactly what it is.)

“Daniel, I know you’re here,” Sungwoon says, eyes never leaving the kumiho in case she changes her mind and decides Sungwoon would make a tasty meal.

He hears a raspy, familiar laugh and then Daniel drops the disillusionment charm, appearing in front of him and putting himself squarely between Sungwoon and the kumiho. He’s holding his trademark leather case at his side.

“Sungwoon! I was wondering when you’d show up,” Daniel says and flashes a positively beatific smile. 

It’s become second nature for Sungwoon to catalogue the changes in Daniel since he last saw him, and he does it now without meaning to. Daniel looks mostly the same, except tanner and a bit more muscular maybe. Sungwoon sees a large burn mark on his arm—because not even a frigid November morning is enough to get him to wear sleeves—which seems consistent with the rumor he’d heard that Daniel was somewhere in the Gobi desert wrangling Chinese Fireball dragons.

Daniel looks good. Better than Sungwoon remembers if that’s even possible. By comparison, Sungwoon probably looks rather pitiful. The first few years as an Auror are known to consist of thankless and soul-sucking work, and Sungwoon’s pretty much accepted that 'tired and overworked' is his default state of being now. Yet, faced with Daniel’s healthy glowing skin and pearly white smile, Sungwoon suddenly feels self-conscious. He pulls his coat a little tighter to his chest as though it might shield him.

“I’ve missed you,” Daniel says after the silence stretches on a bit too long.

His words send Sungwoon crashing back down to the reality of their current situation. There’s a lot of things he could say in response, nice ones and more not-so-nice ones, all of them true, but instead, he bites his tongue. He’s got a job to do and now is neither the time nor place for a heart-to-heart.

Instead, he says, “I suppose you’re going to convince me to let her go.”

To his credit, Daniel doesn’t even blink at Sungwoon’s obvious evasion tactic and pivots to the new subject with ease.

“Kumihos aren’t dangerous, just misunderstood.”

“They feed on human _flesh_.”

“Hearts, actually. It’s a common mistake,” Daniel corrects, as though that’s somehow reassuring.

Sungwoon pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s too early right now to deal with Daniel’s relentless optimism; Sungwoon hasn’t even eaten a proper meal yet today.

“Don’t tell me the blood—”

“It’s hers,” Daniel cuts in, rushing to the kumiho’s defense. “She’s injured. Poachers were after her. She escaped, thankfully, but she needs time to recuperate. I was patching up her wounds when you arrived.”

Daniel looks at him with pleading eyes as he speaks—eyes that have always been Sungwoon’s greatest weakness. Daniel knows it too. “She can’t even transform, that’s how weak she is right now. Just trust me on this.”

Sungwoon sighs. “You know I have to take her in. I don’t have a choice.”

Truth to be told, he’s always admired Daniel’s ability to love anything with a pulse, no matter how aggressive or revolting or aggressively revolting the creature might be. But this isn’t one of his cute nifflers or harmless bowtruckles. Kumihos are dangerous—indisputably so—and housing one is banned by law. Sungwoon won't be able to look the other way this time. 

“Take me instead.”

“What?”

“Take me instead of her," Daniel repeats. "We both know the director would probably piss himself from excitement if you brought me in. He’s been after me for ages.”

“That’s what happens when that zoo of prohibited magical creatures you carry with you gets loose and burns down The Blue House. You nearly started World War III.”

Sungwoon still has anxiety nightmares about that day. It had taken so much creative spellwork and damage control to undo—first, to convince the muggles that there had not been a missile attack and not to act hastily, and then the truly enormous and challenging task of obliviating an entire city.

Daniel laughs as though Sungwoon told a particularly funny joke. “Then the least I could do to make it up to everyone is to let you put me behind bars. You’ll probably even get that promotion you’ve been gunning for.”

Daniel speaks as though he’s up to date with the current happenings of Sungwoon’s life and that’s troubling for more reason than one.

He’s not wrong though. Daniel’s been on the Ministry’s "Most Wanted" list since he was eighteen for harboring a truly extensive collection of illegal and dangerous magical creatures in his damn enchanted suitcase.

But taking him in—well, that’s one thing they never talk about. In his three years as an Auror, he’s never once gone after Daniel, despite the fact his familiarity with the other man would make him fairly easy to track down. That's just how it is: Sungwoon turns a blind eye to Daniel’s antics and Daniel returns the favor by never pointing out how pathetically softhearted Sungwoon is about him.

“She’s having _kits,_ Sungwoon,” he adds earnestly, and that’s what does it. Not the idea of demonic fox babies—which is wholly terrifying—but Daniel’s sincerity when he speaks of them. He could probably raise his own dark arts cult if he felt so inclined, that’s how powerfully moving his words can be. Furthermore, Sungwoon can tell that Daniel’s ready to lay down his life for the fox and the last thing he wants right now is to duel. “Let me take care of her, and then you can take me in.”

“Fine,” Sungwoon relents. “You get one chance, otherwise I’m taking _both_ of you back in chains.”

Daniel’s answering smile makes Sungwoon feel like a hundred doxies have been let loose in his chest. He watches Daniel set down his case and open the lid. The kumiho, who had been resting while the two of them debated, eyes him tiredly as he walks towards her.

It’s always a privilege to see Daniel in his element. He has a talent for communicating with magical creatures unlike anyone else on this Earth. It’s almost like he speaks another language. There’s no magic involved; it’s just Daniel.

Sungwoon watches from a safe distance as Daniel approaches the kumiho, bowing his head in deference until she sniffs him and reciprocates with a bow of her own—permission to come closer. He’d already sewn her wound shut, but now he spells away the blood to clean her fur.

Then, in the ultimate act of trust, the kumiho rolls onto her side, and from under her belly, the heads of three small white kits with gleaming red eyes pop out.

Sungwoon fights another involuntary gasp and watches with bated breath as Daniel lifts one of the kits into his arms, gentle as can be. Once he shows the kumiho that the kit remains unharmed and he has no plans of hurting her, he reaches for the other two. With all three kits in his arms, Daniel walks slowly to the open case and the mother tentatively, warily, follows him as he steps inside it. Then all of them disappear from view.

There are a few minutes of silence, just Sungwoon standing alone in the ruins of the hanok, morning mist hanging heavy in the air. He busies himself by casting a scourgify charm on the floor to wash them of blood and then begins casting spells to repair the roof.

Soon enough, Daniel’s crawling out of his suitcase—alone this time. He stands up and dusts himself off. His appearance is considerably more disheveled than before, but there’s a satisfied expression on his face.

“She and her kits are all squared away,” he tells Sungwoon. “Let me just call for my assistant.”

Sungwoon quirks a brow. “You have an assistant now?”

“Yup, I’ve joined the big leagues. Woojin!”

There’s a _crack!_ and a moment later a guy a few years younger than him appears out of thin air. He eyes Sungwoon distrustfully. “Yes, Boss?”

Daniel reaches for the case and snaps it shut.

“Take this,” he says, handing the case to Woojin. “You know where to bring it. Mr. Ha needs me to go to the Ministry with him to attend to some, uh, _urgent business_.”

Recognition dawns across Woojin’s face.

“Roger that,” he says, grabbing the case. Woojin flashes Sungwoon a snaggletoothed smile that’s somewhere between friendly and feral. “Nice to meet you Mr. Ha. Heard _a lot_ about you.”

Before Sungwoon can respond, there’s another loud _crack!_ as Woojin disapparates with the case, leaving only white tendrils of smoke in his wake.

"He seems... spirited."

Daniel nods. "Woojin's got a lot of potential," Daniel says with a smile. He hasn’t stopped smiling this entire time, now that Sungwoon thinks about it.

Daniel pockets his wand and closes the distance between them. Now that the immediate problem of the kumiho has been taken care of, the mood suddenly shifts. Sungwoon is painfully aware of how intimate the atmosphere is— _too intimate—_ brimming with unspoken emotions.

“I have to take you in now,” Sungwoon breathes. He lifts his wand and a silvery beagle emerges, bounding out of view; a patronus on its way to warn the Ministry of their arrival.

“I love it when you talk like that, darling,” Daniel says, words made all the more irksome by the fact that he sounds _sincere_.

Sungwoon’s hand finds Daniel’s wrists, grasping them together and spelling chains to loop around them and lock them in place.

“I guess I was expecting too much when I asked you to stay out of trouble,” Sungwoon says, resigned. “And I’m not your darling,” he adds as an afterthought.

Daniel responds by leaning down and brushing a soft kiss against Sungwoon’s cheek. Sungwoon feels distinctly betrayed by his own body as his cheeks warm at the gentle touch.

“You are,” Daniel whispers into his ear, “and always will be.”

The rest of his words are drowned out by the tidal wave of noise as Sungwoon side-long apparates them both into the Ministry headquarters.

Guards descend on them the moment their feet touch down at the Ministry.

They escort them to the elevator where Sungwoon is crammed in beside Daniel and the two other guards. It’s rather claustrophobic, but Daniel appears entirely unbothered, looking more like someone being guided to a luxury resort rather than to prison.

He casts a look at Sungwoon and offers him a sweet smile.

“Are you going to visit me?”

“Depends. Will you stick around long enough for me to?” The words taste acrid on his tongue, and he regrets them immediately when he sees the way they cause Daniel’s face to crumple.

Sungwoon is saved from saying anything else utterly stupid—like, _I hate that I’m never enough to make you stay,_ or even worse, _I’m sorry—_ by the elevator doors opening to reveal the Auror offices.

He bows politely to the guards as he exits. It’s only when he’s well clear of the door that he dares take one last backward glance over his shoulder.

Daniel is already staring at him. Their gazes connect for one long, weighted second before the doors slide shut, obscuring Daniel from view.

Director Yoon is ecstatic, to say the least. He doesn’t even gripe about the kumiho that’s still at large, entirely convinced that now they’ve apprehended the elusive Kang Daniel, it won’t be long until they track down “his loathsome suitcase” too.

“I knew from the moment you joined us that you were the real deal, Ha,” Director Yoon says. He grips Sungwoon’s shoulder and gives it a firm, paternal squeeze.

On a normal day, the Director’s words would have Sungwoon bursting with pride; he’s been grinding all year, practically working himself into the ground, and now he’s finally getting the validation he so craves.

Today, he can barely muster the requisite answering smile.

His chest feels hollow.

Seeing Daniel always leaves him feeling slightly off-balance. He’s like a hurricane—a wild, impulsive storm that tears through Sungwoon’s life, sweeping him up in its currents, and leaving nothing but wreckage and despair in its wake.

Daniel will be fine, he always is. Sungwoon's done his job and whatever happens now is none of his business. 

Taehyun and Minah are waiting for him outside Director Yoon’s office with a bottle of opened firewhiskey when he emerges. They let out a raucous cheer and hold out a full glass to him, but Sungwoon waves it off. As tempting as getting drunk sounds right now, it won’t do him any good.

He joins the celebrations because it's expected of him, but lasts for exactly ten minutes before he begs off with the excuse of it being a long morning and having a never-ending pile of paperwork to get through.

The Aurors toast him once more and he shoots them an artificial smile before barricading himself in his office.

 _Out of sight, out of mind_ , Sungwoon tells himself, but it does nothing to lessen the emptiness he feels. 

The commotion starts forty minutes later.

Even through the dense wooden doors, Sungwoon hears the panicked yells of _"Kang’s escaped!”_ A moment later, the unearthly screeches of the trained alarm pixies sound throughout the ministry, their shrill screams making Sungwoon’s bones vibrate. 

With a deep sigh, Sungwoon reaches for a wand and pushes his way out of his office and into the chaos outside.

Giant banners featuring Daniel’s annoying and attractive face drop down from the balustrades in the main atrium. Director Yoon’s disembodied voice warns all Ministry officials that a dangerous convict is on the loose and to proceed with caution. Taehyun jogs by and Sungwoon tugs at his robes to catch his attention.

“What’s going on?”

“Jailbreak,” Taehyun says gravely. “One second Kang was in the holding cell and the next second he was gone. No one knows how he got past the wards without a wand.”

He hesitates for a moment, eyes darting around surreptitiously before lowering his voice into a whisper. “Look, I know you two have… history. Did he tell you anything about where he might go?”

Sungwoon shakes his head. “That’s all in the past,” he says firmly. “Anyway, Kang’s never been the forthcoming type.”

Taehyun’s gaze turns sympathetic, which is the last thing Sungwoon wants to see. The Auror claps him hard on the back.

“Come on,” Taehyun urges, “let’s go catch a bad guy.”

It’s a pointless exercise. They’re too late from the get-go, and Daniel’s most likely put kilometers of distance, if not whole cities, between them by now. Sungwoon isn’t looking forward to the shelling they’ll surely be subjected to later; this is the third occasion where Daniel’s slipped through their grasp and they’d even had him behind bars this time.

After a thankless three hours, during which they run in circles, casting spells futilely while they scour every inch of the Ministry and surrounding neighborhoods without success, they’re finally let off the hook.

“Kang’s fled the premises,” Director Yoon tells them, sounding defeated. “Kim and Noh will head up the search team for now. Everyone else, get back to work. You’ll be notified of the next steps when we get further details.”

Taehyun eyes him critically, like maybe he didn’t quite believe Sungwoon's story earlier. In the end, he says nothing, joining Director Yoon and Doyeon to get the full debrief while the rest of the Aurors disperse. 

No matter Taehyun’s suspicions, the truth is that Sungwoon couldn’t tell him where Daniel has gone, even if he suspects he knows how he escaped. _And he doesn’t care to know either,_ Sungwoon reminds himself.

Deceit weighs heavy on his shoulders.

There’s a flyer with Daniel’s mugshot plastered on his office door and Sungwoon rips it off with more force than is strictly necessary. The Daniel on the page shoots him a salacious wink, forever taunting him.

Sungwoon fully intends to pass the final hour of his workday in blissful isolation, but when he returns to his office he discovers he has company. Feline company, to be specific.

Evidently, while the Auror department was busy chasing its own tail, a handsome Japanese bobtail snuck into Sungwoon’s office and made himself comfortable on his desk. It shouldn’t be possible for a cat to look so distinctly unimpressed, yet Sungwoon can feel his judgment radiating off him in waves.

There’s a black fleck underneath the bobtail’s right eye; one that, if Sungwoon squints, awfully resembles the under-eye mole of a certain wizard he knows.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve to stop by for a visit,” Sungwoon says, scratching behind the cat’s ears. As annoyed as he pretends to be, he can’t ignore the warm feeling that blooms in his chest. “The entire Ministry is looking for you.”

The bobtail’s only response is to nuzzle into Sungwoon’s hand, and he lets out a satisfied purr when Sungwoon’s nails finally find the sweet spot under his chin.

A contented smile works its way onto Sungwoon’s face and the constant weight pressing down on his shoulders and chest feels a bit lighter. After the day he’s had, he thinks he's justifiable in his enjoyment. He _deserves_ this.

The silence is comfortable as he runs his fingers through the cat's soft fur, but eventually, he has to break it. 

“As nice as this is, you can’t stay here, Daniel.”

They’re not the words he wants to say, but they’re the truth. Daniel is taking a stupid risk by being on Ministry premises at all, and as much as Sungwoon’s sentimental side screams out in desperation for Daniel to stay _just this once_ , the rational side of him knows that Daniel can only be Daniel—famed magizoologist, animal rights activist, wanted criminal, Sungwoon’s first love and first heartbreak—if he leaves. He’s of no use to anyone in chains.

The bobtail’s dark, familiar eyes stare at him. If cats could talk, he’d probably be saying, “ _try me,_ ” and for the first time during this very long day, Sungwoon laughs.

“Living out the rest of your life as a cat is _not_ a practical choice. Besides, your animals are counting on you.”

Reluctantly, the bobtail rises to his feet. His whiskers tickle Sungwoon’s hand as he brushes his head against it one last time. After taking a final affectionate look at Sungwoon, he jumps smoothly from the desk to the ledge of the open window. Then, he leaps.

Sungwoon doesn’t bother checking what happens. Cats always land on their feet and Daniel is too graceful and too clever to be caught if he doesn’t want to be, Sungwoon thinks bittersweetly.

It’s only when he returns to his work, that he finally notices the origami soldier standing at attention on his desk. He’s immediately reminded of afternoons spent in stuffy classrooms when Daniel would fold imaginative paper creations and spell them to harass Sungwoon while he determinedly did his best to ignore the childish distractions and focus on the lesson. (Unless, of course, they were in Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Park, in which case their roles were reversed, and _Sungwoon_ was the one charming crudely folded paper airplanes to circle Daniel’s head.)

The soldier begins to march, crossing in a neat line from one side of his desk to the other until Sungwoon picks him up. The paper unfurls itself at his touch, revealing a scribbled line of text in familiar handwriting.

It’s a Gangnam address—one that Sungwoon’s had memorized for years. 

A moment later, the paper bursts into painless, white flames in his palm, leaving Sungwoon holding nothing but a pile of ash. He dumps it into the bin under his desk.

Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he curses himself for being so pathetically soft when it comes to Daniel, for being weak to their shared history, for always giving in to his whims. If Sungwoon were a stronger man, he’d have filed a report for an unregistered animagus when he first joined the Ministry three years ago. It would’ve been easy—the _proper_ thing to do—and Sungwoon would finally have the clean break he’s always telling himself he wants.

Nostalgia grips his heart and clenches—firmly, painfully, _possessively_.

He can still feel the phantom press of Daniel’s lips against his cheek.

Maybe they’re both too married to their careers, too ambitious, too righteous in their own ways to ever have anything comfortable or secure or permanent. Then again, Sungwoon’s loved Daniel since their school days—will probably _always_ love him—and that’s it’s own kind of permanence.

Mind already made up, he reaches for the planner on his desk and flips to the current date. There's an elemental yoga class this evening that he was interested in checking out, but it’s nothing he can’t miss. He touches his wand to the page causing the text to disappear and reappear on the next available slot on Thursday.

Now that he's cleared his schedule, he shuts his planner and pulls his wallet from his pocket. Just his luck, he’s got exactly enough coins on him to buy a bottle of the elderflower wine that Daniel likes so much.

Sungwoon stands up and _accios_ his coat. He shrugs it on and then waves his wand again, extinguishing the light as he exits.

Tomorrow, the department-wide hunt for escaped felon Kang Daniel will resume again, but that’s a worry best left till morning.

Tonight, Sungwoon has a date.

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: the first produce 101 fic i ever wrote was also a nielwoon hp!au inspired by how i used to call them "the gryffindor couple" before they had a ship name due to their matching p101 intro videos. (i have since learned that daniel is a hufflepuff.)
> 
> shout out to all the lovely people on my twitter tlist for helping me decide what type of cat daniel should be. thank you!
> 
> i might write more in this ‘verse if i feel inspired, so if that’s something you’d like to see or if there’s anything in particular that you’d be interested in learning more about, drop a line in the comment box below~ 
> 
> fic aesthetics are [here](https://twitter.com/chansonettes/status/1069788641768001536) for anyone who is curious. thanks for reading ♡


End file.
